POLITICS & POLICY

On a warm night in tropical Rio de Janeiro, a who's who of the literary and cultural scene descend on the palatial halls of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, decked out in gold-trimmed uniforms.

A visionary hero who ended the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and brought peace to a traumatised country, or a despot who rules through fear and repression.

Ollie Watkins struck a stunning injury-time winner as England beat the Netherlands 2-1 on Wednesday to set up a Euro 2024 final showdown with Spain in Berlin.

Novak Djokovic progressed to a record-equalling 13th Wimbledon semi-final without hitting a ball on Wednesday after Alex de Minaur pulled out injured as former champion Elena Rybakina eased through.

NATO allies announced Wednesday they had started the long-promised transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine as leaders meet for a summit in Washington clouded by political uncertainties in the United States.

The Israeli army dropped thousands of leaflets over Gaza City on Wednesday urging all residents to flee a heavy offensive that has rocked the main city of the besieged Palestinian territory.

NATO leaders meet Wednesday for their 75th anniversary, seeking ways to ramp up support for Ukraine as deadly Russian strikes and political uncertainties in the West stir new concerns.

With the pomp and pageantry of his official nomination just days away, Donald Trump's search for a running mate on the Republican presidential ticket is in the home stretch, with a trio of frontrunners jockeying to be first across the finish line.

Cyprus marks a half-century of division this month, with the unresolved conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots branded on the landscape in a UN-patrolled buffer zone that cuts across the island.

In front of a small mosque in central Tunisia, women queue at one of their village's last water sources, a pipe meant for crop irrigation, but now a lifeline in the parched area.

NATO leaders gather Tuesday in Washington for a summit aimed at showing resolve against Russia and support for Ukraine -- but the meeting is set to be overshadowed by US President Joe Biden's fight for political survival.

Keir Starmer has made a flurry of ministerial appointments since becoming UK prime minister last week but one name has stood out: new prisons minister James Timpson.

US President Joe Biden insisted Monday he would not quit the election race, as the White House denied he had Parkinson's disease following a disastrous debate performance.

A Swiss appeals court confirmed Monday the acquittal of six police officers charged over the death of a Nigerian man following a heavy-handed arrest, in a case that drew comparisons to George Floyd.

Palestinians on Monday fled heavy battles in Gaza City as the Israeli military expanded an evacuation order nine months into its war with Hamas militants.

When NATO leaders welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to their summit in Washington this week, they will reaffirm that Kyiv will one day become a member and vow to keep arming its troops.

Hanging from a rope-and-bamboo ladder off a Himalayan mountain cliff, skilled Nepali climbers gather highly prized hallucinogenic honey -- an ancient tradition stung by environmental degradation and rapid climate change.

Shady websites calling for a boycott of Qatar, a New York billboard targeting the Gulf state's rulers, and a Vietnamese outfit floating hundreds of slander-ridden Facebook ads -- all elements of a sprawling influence operation vilifying the country as it mediates between Israel and Hamas.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday was to start efforts to extract France from its most severe political uncertainty in decades after the left defeated the far right in elections with no group winning an absolute majority.

A loose alliance of French left-wing parties thrown together for snap elections was on course Sunday to become the biggest parliamentary bloc and beat the far right, according to shock projected results.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz targets the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Sunday against a piano-playing Frenchman, while Emma Raducanu has British fans dreaming of a first home women's champion in 47 years.

Spurred on by Russia's war in Ukraine and the spectre of Donald Trump's potential return to the White House, more of NATO's European members are finally hitting the alliance's defence spending target.

NATO's 75th anniversary summit was meant to showcase the triumph of a larger, stronger alliance.

France votes in legislative elections Sunday that will be decisive in determining its political future and could see the far right become the largest party in parliament for the first time.

World number one Iga Swiatek was dumped out of Wimbledon by Yulia Putintseva on Saturday as Novak Djokovic set his sights on making the fourth round for the 16th time.

Newly elected UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Saturday began his first full day in charge with a meeting of his cabinet after his Labour party's landslide election win ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz defeated close friend Frances Tiafoe in a roller-coaster five sets to reach the Wimbledon last 16 on Friday as Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff breezed through.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Viktor Orban on Friday that Ukraine must effectively capitulate if it wants peace, in a visit to Moscow by the Hungarian leader that angered the EU, US and Kyiv.

With his reelection bid on the line, US President Joe Biden sits down Friday for a crucial TV interview to persuade doubters of his physical and mental fitness for a second White House term.